Friends, Guts, and Fun Times!

This past Saturday, our good friends Melissa & Darrell came to spend the day with us.  Unfortunately we don't get to hang out very often, but we always enjoy the time we do get to spend with each other.  We had a blast!  Our morning was spent playing with RC helicopters, breaking RC airplanes, girl time at the craft store, and a few rounds of old school Mario on the Nintendo.

We enjoyed a nice late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel.  I had chicken 'n dumplings for the first time and loved them!  And the veggie of the day was lima beans!  One of my favorites!!!  Mmmmm  mmmmmmm!  After lunch, we wandered through the country store (a must-do after eating at Cracker Barrel) and I found a couple of fun things to put in Tamara's happy birthday package.  I hope she enjoys them!

Our post-eating activity was pumpkin carving.  I had previously asked Dave if he would be willing to carve pumpkins with me this year.  He agreed, even though it wouldn't be at the top of his list of fun things to do.  lol  Again, what a man!  He even picked out a couple of beautiful pumpkins from the fire station on one of his days off.  Since I'm not very good at carving pumpkins (what I see in my head and what my hands create always end up being two very, very different things...) Dave agreed to carve the pumpkin if I took all the guts out.  Melissa got Darrell to agree to the same.  :o)

I hate getting dirty, but I hate failing at carving even more.  So, I agreed to get dirty this once.  lol  It was slimy and gross, as predicted.

Eventually, the inside looked beautiful and nearly gut-free!

We sorted out some pumpkin seeds for roasting.

It was a weird, slimy sensation to run my hands through the seeds in the strainer.  Which lasted about 5 seconds and then I ran to the sink and washed all the pumpkin junk off my hands.  :o)  lol

pre-roasted pumpkin seeds

We weren't 100% sure on the directions for roasting pumpkin seeds, but we did a pretty good job.  :o)

After Melissa and I were done playing with pumpkin guts, we called the guys over and they carved away.

This is the masterpiece Dave came up with:

I had never had a pumpkin like that before!  But,  I wasn't about to be picky since he was willing to carve in the first place.  So, we had a VW pumpkin.  Pretty cool, if you ask me.  :o)  Wonderful job, Dave!

Darrell and Melissa's was a more traditional pumpkin face, but I so way forgot to snap a pic of theirs...  It was Darrell's first time EVER carving a pumpkin, believe it or not!  So glad we helped give him an opportunity to experience the magic!  lol

We ended our fun-filled day with some RC car racing in the street/driveway.  I forget what kind of cars they were, but they were super, duper fast and seemed nearly indestructible!  Kinda (ever so slightly) made me want to have one.  Don't tell Dave!  lol

nose-picked goodness in a box

So, a couple of days before Halloween, I was at a store with my friend, Melissa, and we saw a display with all sorts of Halloween-ish candy.  Like the supposed-to-gross-you-out kind.  Finger lollipops, pooping black cats with edible "poo", etc.  I thought it would be fun to find something to take to Dave and settled on this:

Eeewwwww!  Sick!!  The pictures on the box do resemble some boogers, so I thought it would be a disgusting enough Halloween treat.

Here's what was in the box:

Now, I don't know about you, but my boogers look NOTHING like those.  And they don't feel like those either.  How disappointing...  There is nothing Halloweeny about those gummy things.  Although, the yellow ones actually tasted pretty good; the perfect amount of lemony flavor.

Lesson learned:  don't trust a box of boogers to be accurate.  :o)

My Sneaky Husband

A couple of weeks ago, Dave used up a few of his vacation days.  On his first vacation day, we went to the aquarium.  (I blogged about that already.)  The next day, he told me he planned to spend the morning helping his Dad with a few things and if there was time that afternoon he would work on his Volkswagens.  The third vacation day would be used solely on his Volkswagens.

Well, I pull up into the driveway after working on his 2nd day off and he meets me outside.  While grinning a sly, I'm-up-to-something smile, he says, "How would you feel about going out to dinner tonight?"  Immediately, a few scenarios run through my head.  He's trying to be super romantic.  He is starving and wants dinner fast.  He's done something to the house and it's unfit to make dinner in.

After walking inside, I quickly see that the last scenario is the accurate one this time.  There are kitchen cabinet doors and painting supplies all over the place.  My kitchen was a mess!  (Yes, I can say "my" kitchen because Dave and I agreed before we got married that the garage is HIS and the kitchen is MINE.  Works out nicely! :o)  However, I was so surprised and happy and shocked and angry all at the same time!  Let me explain.

When we moved into this house, the kitchen/dining room wallpaper was one of the first things I noticed that I definitely did not like.  The kitchen cabinets also needed to be repainted because one cupboard door had been painted a different color before we moved in but that's it.  The paint job begun by the previous owner had ended there.  And, they were dirty and stained and Dave and I just didn't like them.

I knew they needed to be painted, I was just putting it off and putting it off.  I don't like painting, especially when it involves removing ALL the cupboard doors and handles, etc.  What a pain!  So, I just hadn't "gotten around to it" yet.

When I realized that my sweet husband had used up part of his day off to start the big, dreaded project, I was so happy and grateful!  He hadn't even hinted that he was going to be doing it so I was totally taken off guard.  At the same time, though, I was upset that he was wasting his day off on a project for MY kitchen that I really should have taken the initiative and done weeks months ago.

He wouldn't let me help, though.  He stayed up super late that night working on it and sent me to bed so I would be rested for work the next day.  He spent his last day off finishing up the kitchen.  I felt bad, but very appreciative for his willingness to do something so nice for me, especially when he has a bazillion other things on his own To-Do list to do with his time off.  What a man!

Anyway, sorry for that long explanation!

Needless to say Dave is a great painter!  Check out these super white kitchen cabinets!!

Now I need to get motivated (and invite my friends who have steamers over) and take down the wallpaper and paint the kitchen.

Thanks, Dave, for your hard work!  You are wonderful!  I owe ya one!  Or two, or three...  ;o)